Martzke puts Field House in perspective

BLUEPRINT Building: University of Wisconsin-Madison Field House Completed: 1930 Builder: William Christenson, Racine Architect: George Peabody, in consultation with Paul Cret of Laird & Cret Biggest Fan: Paul Martzke, Berners-Schober Associates Inc., Green Bay

Some buildings look better when you're right up next to them. Others need some distance to be fully appreciated.

And still others benefit from both perspectives. Such is the case of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Field House, which Paul Martzke, architect with Berners-Schober Associates Inc., Green Bay, chose as his favorite building in Wisconsin.

"It's a huge building," he said. "It's got to be four or five stories tall. But the way the architect designed it, it appears smaller.

"Until you actually stand back, you can't fully appreciate it. It's such a huge building, but if you look at the detailing in the stone and terra cotta, the architect took some time designing it. It's really brought down to scale."

He also mentioned that the Field House, which forms the southern end of Camp Randall Stadium, "holds" the busy intersection of Regent and Monroe streets, an area overrun with students and alumni on football Saturdays and regular citizens on other days of the week. Like the stone that adorns its exterior, the gable-roofed Field House has kept its place during numerous renovations to itself and the football stadium, Martzke said.

Photo by Jeremy Harrell

"It works well from the inside of Camp Randall as a bookend," he said. "Through all of (those changes), the Field House has stood there like a rock."

The Field House has also maintained a sentimental place in the hearts of UW alumni. Martzke said he's not a graduate — the state's only architecture school is in Milwaukee — but he said he's "one at heart," and he understands the connection between the structure and its guests.

"It means so much to UW grads," he said.

The building's 'W' crest, created by an unknown hand, is now the official emblem of the UW. When Martzke's own firm took up the current renovation of Camp Randall, the university's Athletic Department made it known that the architects had to respect the Field House, he said.

The building has been somewhat eclipsed by the Kohl Center, where the UW now plays its basketball games. But for a building that has seen its day as a venue for track, basketball, volleyball, community events and numerous other functions, it has more than kept pace with time, Martzke said.

"It's done everything users have asked of it," he said.

- Jeremy Harrell